Almost everyone played with cars in their childhood or collected them. This hobby holds some of us hard from youth to age with the toys getting each year more diverse and expensive or even real. Usually all toy models are based on their real prototypes but the reverse may also be true. This was the case with the Whatta Drag toy car produced by Hot Wheels.
Professional microcar collector Bruce Weiner decided to embody a toy car into a real life version back in 2004. Whatta Drag model produced by Hot Wheels in 2000 was taken as a basis. Bruce came to John Eversley from Evermoor LTD, showed him the orange Hot Wheels model and asked: “Can you make me a real one?” The short answer was “No problem!” and four months later a stunning full size toy was added to Bruce’s collection. 1959 BMW Isetta 300 was taken as a bodyshell “donor”. By the way, it was this tiny car which helped the Bavarian manufacturer stay afloat by providing good sales in the difficult post-war years.
Space frame was prepared for the project execution with tiny bodyshell mounted on its one side and the powertrain, transmission, rear wheel and a huge spoiler mounted on its opposite side. The company has experience in creating sports cars so there were no hitches either with the frame or with selecting the components to get the car running.
Regular petrol from the 45L tank flows into two Holley carburettors which in their turn generously feed the 8-cylinder supercharged 8.2-litre 740-hp Chevrolet engine with rich mixture. The horsepower and newton-metres remain unknown (probably, in order not to shock the audience) and are transmitted via the two-speed manual gearbox to the single custom-made 18-inch rear wheel. Exhaust gases are drawn off with the help of Zoomies exhaust system which is also capable of shooting 1-metre flames.
The wheels are connected to the body by means of sport suspension built on the basis of the BMW M3 units using sport dampers. The dual circuit disc brake system was assembled from the AP-Racing components.
In 2013 this wonder-car was put on auction and was expected to fetch $100,000. Although the toy car is in running condition it’s not street-legal and remains just a show-car.
Whatta Drag technical specifications:
Body: 1959 BMW Isetta 300
Chassis: weldless 38mm tube
Engine: 502 Big Block Chevy 8.2L BDS Supercharger
Transmission: two-speed manual
Fuel: 93 Octane Gasoline — 12 Gallon Fuel Cell (Foam Packed)
Suspension: BMW M3 + sport dampers
Brakes: AP Racing dual circuit disc brakes
Wheels:
BFGoodrich Force 215/60 X 14 in the front
Sumitomo 285/35 X 18 HTRZ in the rear
Length: 3.7 metres
Width: 1.75 metres
Weight: 700 kg
¼ mile distance time: no data
